The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the biopharma industry. From artificial intelligence breakthroughs to at-home genetic testing, BioSpace reviews some of the ways COVID-19 has changed the industry and what we may see in the near future.
The United States government procured more than 100 million additional COVID-19 tests from testmaker iHealth Lab Inc. as part of the White House’s plan to distribute 500 million free at-home tests across the country, the Department of Defense said Jan. 28.
When used in children, rapid antigen tests for detecting the coronavirus do not meet accuracy criteria set by the World Health Organization and U.S. and UK device regulators, according to researchers who reviewed 17 studies of the tests. Other research appears to confirm smaller, earlier studies that suggested nursing mothers are unlikely to transmit the coronavirus in breastmilk.
The U.S. government will make 400 million non-surgical N95 masks from its strategic national stockpile available for free to the public starting next week, a White House official said, marking the Biden administration’s latest effort to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. households can order four free at-home COVID-19 tests from the website COVIDTests.gov starting on Jan. 19 with shipping expected within seven to 12 days of ordering, the White House said on Jan. 14.
The Biden administration on January 12 announced a new set of measures to keep classes open, including doubling COVID-19 testing capacity in schools with 10 million more tests, as the Omicron variant spreads rapidly through the United States.
Britain and Israel are overhauling their COVID-19 testing policies as governments seek to reduce the burden on laboratories and struggle with tight supplies of kits amid soaring infection rates fueled by the Omicron variant.
The Biden administration is finalizing contracts for 500 million rapid COVID-19 tests that it plans to distribute for free to Americans who request them, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on January 4.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on January 4 that COVID-19 cases were rising even at the White House as he urged unvaccinated Americans to get vaccinated and others to get booster shots.
New York City will stop quarantining entire classrooms exposed to the coronavirus and will instead prioritize a ramped-up testing program so that asymptomatic students testing negative for Covid-19 can remain in school, officials said on December 28.
